Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Recent Work
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Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Recent Work Title THE SPECTROMETRIC DETERMINATION OF SOME BETA PARTICLE AND CONVERSION ELECTRON ENERGIES Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7cr8x56w Author O'Kelley, Grover D. Publication Date 1951-05-13 eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UCRL -1243 Cya, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA TWO-WEEK LOAN COPY This is a Library Circulating Copy which may be borrowed for two weeks. For a personal retention copy. call Tech. Info. Division. Ext. 5545 BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA DISCLAIMER This document was prepared as an account of work sponsored by the United States Government. While this document is believed to contain correct information, neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor the Regents of the University of California, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by its trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof, or the Regents of the University of California. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof or the Regents of the University of California. /( UNCLASSiFiED UCRL-1243 MAY 1 5 1951 THE SPECTROMETRIC DETERNINATION OF SOIvlE BETA PARTICLE 3 AND CONVERSION ELECTRON ENERGIES By Grover Davis O'Kelley A. B. (Howard College) 1948 DISSERTATION Submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in Chemistry .':~- in the '." GRADUATE DIVISION of the UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA . Approved: ............................................................................................ • .. .. .. .. .. .. • .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. a ..... 0 .................. " ............ .. .. .. .. .. .• .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Committee in charge Deposited in the University Library ...................................... ! ................... "... Date Librarian TABLE OF CONTENTS Page I. INTRODUCTION • • • • 4 '0' II. APPARATUS . • • • • • • • 15 :f, ('r: III. EXPERnmNTAL . • -, .. • • .. • • • • • 40 { • r~ A. The Decay Scheme of h242 • • • • • 4.3 Ii' ~j B. Radiations of Am241 · • • • • 53 C. Decay SCheIlle of Cm:'42 • • • 57 6 D. Decay Schemeof~22 hOur' Np2.3 and 44 day Np2.34 • 59 E. Radiations of Pu24.3!;l.ndPu238. • • • • 65 203 2OO F. Radiations of Pb and Pb • • • • • • • 70 209 G. Beta Energy of Pb • • • • • • • • 74 H. Neutron Deficient Isotopes of ZircQnium and their Decay,Products. • • • • • • • • 78 IV. ACKNOWLEGMENT. • • • • • • • • • • 92 v. REFERENCES. , • • • • · • • • • 93 -2- THE SPECTRONETRIC DETERMINATION OF SOHE BETA PARTICLE AND CONVERSION ELECTRON ENERGIES Grover Davis OtKelley Radiation Laboratory and Department of Chemistry University of California, Berkeley, California .Ij' ABSTRAC':f A double . focusing' beta spectrometer having a radius of 25 cm has been constructed. The theoretical transmission for a resolving power of 1 1/3 percent is about 1 percent of 41T. The spectrometer and auxiliary equipment are described. The decay ofAm242 has been investigated, using the beta spectrometer, and a decay scheme is postulated. Schemes are also proposed for the decay of~241, em242, NP236, and Pb203 • The radiations of the heavy nuclides Np234, Pu24.3, Pu238, Pb209, and Pb200 have also been measured. The radiations from neutron deficient isotopes of zirconium and their decay products have been determined, and a decay scheme is postulated for the decay of Zr 8'l. -3- THE SPECTROMETRIC DETERMINATION OF SOME BETA PARTICLE AND CONVERSION ELECTRON ENERGIES Grover Davis 0 'Kelley Radiation Laboratory and Department of Chemistry University of California, Berkeley, California -... ' I. INTRODUCTION In recent years the spectroscopy of radioactive nuclides has become one of the most fruitful fields of nuclear research. Spectro- metric measurements of energies and intensities are necessary to test our present concepts of (t, ~, and Y processes, and further develop mentalong theoretical li~es is hindered by the fact that relatively few investigators have used such a precise approach to the study of radioactive disintegrations. According to the Table of Isotopes of Seaborg and Perlmanl there are more than 700 radioactive nuclides· known, yet Mitchell's review of disintegration schemes2 compiles only about 50 which are reasonably well known in the region below lead. Thus, there is a need for careful spectrometric work, rather than the less reliable absorption methods usually employed. Spectrometric measurements are particularly useful in the heavy region, since these isotopes frequently decay in several different ways, and if some experimentally determined disintegration energies are availa- bIe, others may be calculated through the use of closed decay cycles. This method has proved very useful in extending the information on electro.n capture decays. The systematics of alpha radioactivity3,4 have been a valuable aid in obtaining unmeasured disintegration energies, and have made it possible to predict the radioactive properties of unknown species. By the use of such methods important advances in the study of heavy nuclei have been made, the most noteworthy being the -5- rather complete and consistent picture of the energy surface in the heavy region3,4 which has been constructed. However, the available data on beta disintegration energies '. leave much to be desired, and it is of considerable importance to measure such schemes with precision comparable to that obtainable in the measurement of alpha particle energies, if unknown energies are to be calculated precisely. The usual beta ray spectrometer is also very useful for mru(ing measurements of gamma energies, as des- , cribed below. Once sufficient data are compiled on t he decay schemes of electron capture isotopes, it will perhaps be possible to make the systematics of electron capture decay of Thompson5 more quantitative, since one would have available the comparative half-lives and elec- tron capture transition energies, if the total decay energy were known from a decay cycle and the daughter energy levels were known from the decay scheme. It has become customary to call instruments for studying the elec- tron spectra of radioactive isotopes "beta ray spectrometers." Since these devices also yield information about gamma rays by measuring the internally or externally converted electrons, the name "nuclear spectrometerll has been used by Langer and Cook.6 Before discussing these instruments further, it seems well to describe briefly the theories of beta decay and gamma emission. Beta diSintegration is considered to be a complex transformation of a neutron into a proton or vice versa, with the simultaneous emission or absorption of an electron and neutrino. The theory was developed in its simplest form qy Fermi,7 who used the Heisenberg concept that the -6- neutron and proton are different states of the same particle. It is postulated that the neutron and proton interact with the combined fields of electron and neutrino in such a way that an electron is created and a neutrino radiated when a neutron changes to a proton. Conversely, a positron and neutrino are radiated ,men a proton changes to a neutron. The probability for the emission of a beta particle with momentum between T) and T) + dT) is given by Fermi as p(Tj)d'f) = G2/2TT.3IMI2F(Z,T)T)2(eo _ e}2d'rl, where T) is the momentum of the electron in units of lIloc, e is the total energy in units of IIloC2, and eo is the maximum energy of the distribution. The quantity (eo - e) represents the momentum and energy of the neutrino. The factor G is given by G = (g/moc2) (moc/h).3, where the constant g measures the strength of the interaction between the nucleons. and the electron.neutrino field, and is analogous to e in the quantum electrodynamic treatment of the interaction of electrons with the electromagn7tic field (light). This "Fermi constant;" g, must be determined empirically. The factor IMI2 represents the square of the matrix element con taining the wave functions of the initial and final states of the neu tron and proton and the form of the interaction. For allowed transitions thiS factor is of the order of unity, but is smaller for forbidden' tr?TI sitions, and may sometimes be dependent upon the energy of electron and neutrino. This behavior arises from the expansion of the matrix ele ment into a series of terms, which become successively smaller if they -7- do not vanish; only the first nonvanishing term is important to the order of the transition. If the first term does not vanish it is close to unity, regardless of the interaction type and energy. Such transi- I '. tions are allowed. For certain transitions the initial and final nuclear wave functions are such that the first term in the M-expansion is zero. In such cases the second term assumes importance, and the,transition is first-for- bidden. Since successive terms in the expansion decrease by the factor iiR, where 'Yiis the average